Tamworth Textile Triennial

Image: Ema Shin, Devoted Body (detail), 2017

The Open House: 3rd Tamworth Textile Triennial exhibition is at the Australian Design Centre until 29 July – the last stop of its national tour of Australia. The exhibition features the work of contemporary artists in fibre textile arts from across the country, a snapshot of current and future practice. Each triennial engages a guest curator and this exhibition is curated by Glenn Barkley. The theme, ‘Open House’, focuses on the recent global shift to the handmade in a time when screens and digital devices dominate our lives, he explains: “While the internet can dull the mind, it also enables us to make - or at least to see how to make - virtually anything, with YouTube art tutorials available in the comfort of our own home.”

Image: GhostNets Australia, Wobbegong Shark, 2017, Photography by Steve Gonsalves

Open House celebrates the open-ended nature of textile practice today. All of the artists’ works are linked with things outside of themselves and their studios. Many celebrate the sense of belonging that comes from working with other artists; while others take on wide-ranging issues, such as the landscape and the environment, and the artist’s place in a world beset by environmental, social and cultural upheaval. Through the process of creating, talking and exhibiting, the artists join together with visitors as equal participants in an open house where all ideas and responses are welcome.

Image: Carol McGregor, not a tourist (dilly bag 2), 2017. Photography by Carl Warner.

The Tamworth Textile Triennial has a long history stemming from the 1960’s competitive art exhibitions held by the Tamworth Arts and Craft Society. A core group of fibre artists developed the exhibition into a professional, curated show held at the Tamworth Regional Art Gallery. From there it has evolved into the current format of a triennial and showcases the best textile art from across the country, attracting acclaimed and emerging textile artists Australia-wide.

Artists included: Carol McGregor, Ema Shin, Gomeroi Gaaynggal Centre NSW, Jeanette Stok, John Brooks, Joy Ivill, Julia Robinson, Meredith Woolnough, Noongar Doll Makers, Raquel Ormella, Rebecca Mayo, Sally Blake, Sue Ryan of GhostNets Australia and Treahna Hamm.

Read an essay by Glenn Barkley, curator of Open House: Tamworth Textiles Triennial here.